The first WoW Arena World Cup of 2018 starts this weekend with the European Qualifier cup #1 and will be broadcast live on Twitch beginning at 9:00 a.m. PST Saturday, February 3 and Sunday, February 4. Casters Rich Campbell, Adrian “Healingstat” Archer-Lock, Elliott “Venruki” Venczel, and Mohammed “Ziqo” Beshir will be on hand to keep you on top of all the exciting 3v3 arena action.

Caster and esport personality Mohammed “Ziqo” Beshir has the inside scoop on which teams make his top 5 to watch as we kick off this WoW Arena World Championship.

#1Team Name: XRB to the MoonRoster: Zeepeye, Loony, Wallirik, Blizzon

Blizo joins from Method: Triforce where, in his rookie season, he came in 3rd at BlizzCon 2017. Considered MvP of the team by analysts, he is a big pick up for XRB to the moon, who are formally known as Enjoy Legion. XRB have been performing very well on the ladder with the lock (warlock), shaman, druid composition, and Loony currently has an 89% win rate on his highest rated character (2845, Europe #8). So, Ziqo ranks them as the favorites for the year.

#2Team Name: NRGRoster: Raiku, Whaazz, Chas, Swapxy

If Whaazz was allowed to hand pick his roster, this was probably what he’d have come up with. NRG had a disappointing 2017 being eliminated before BlizzCon, but have brought in two-time World Champions Swapxy & Chas to bring more diversity to their compositions. This will be the first time Swapxy has ever competed without Boetar. The two of them have played together since leveling days in Burning Crusade.

#3Team Name: ABCRoster: Alec, Niksi, Cara, Minpojke

Minpojke has a point to prove this year after parting ways with NRG. He joins defending world champions ABC and will look to outperform his former teammates on NRG. Ziqo thinks the roster could even be an improvement from last year, with Minpojke gelling well with the experience of Alec, and his hunger to complete his repertoire by winning the World Championship. The fact this roster isn’t #1 on Ziqo’s list shows how strong this year’s teams are.

#4Team Name: 85%Roster: Drainer, Jaime, Feddx, Fabss

With Swapxy leaving Method, Fabio has also followed, and he joins fellow 2017 BlizzCon competitor Jaime for this year. Jaime finished 5th last year on Rockets: Eclipse. Alongside three-time BlizzCon Champion Fabss, this will be a team to watch.

#5Team Name: Rockets EsportsRoster: Ratapai, Tsx, Vilaye, Akrololz

Ratapai finished first on points in 2017, top of Europe for online qualification. He’s brought in Vilaye from Making a Movie this year, alongside Tsx and Akrololz to round out his patterned aggressive Rogue Mage play style. Vilaye will bring more experience to the roster having reached the BlizzCon final in 2015.

You can stay on top of all the World of Warcraft Arena World Championship brackets, rules, and tournament information on Battlefy. Sign-ups are open for the North American Cup and will close February 5 at 9:00 a.m. PST.